Vinegaroon On Old Coach Bag

[pnushi]

Hi,

Abosolute newbie at this, I know there is already a thread about a Coach bag but I have more questions. . .

I have an old coach bag, originally bone coloured, that I dyed with Fiebings. after a good scrub with Acetone.

Terrible rub off even though I buffed it for about 4 hours, especially the back, where it touches my side,

Then - whoo who - I found this site and am begging for your help.

I have scrubbed it down with extra fine steel wool and acetone to remove most of the dye and now want to try Vinegaroon.

I have washed the bag (in the washing machine) and soaked it in black tea for about 5 minutes. It is hanging to dry as I write.

What now?

My Vinegaroon is only about 3 days old but it is the colour shown in the pictures and tutorials. and it doesn't really smell vinegarry

I gallon of white vinegar and about 6 steel wool pads. Cooked, Cooled. Strained. Cooked again.

Some questions:

1. How long before I can use it?
   
2. Does the purse have to be wet before I put it on?
   
3. Do I immerse it or paint it on?
   
4. How long do I let it sit?
   
5. How long in the baking soda bath?
   
6. How much baking soda is too much?
   
7. Can I finish it with clear shoe polish?
   
8. If not, what is recommended to finish it.
   

I really like this bag and want to do a good job so any hints, warnings, how to's well, anything really, will be of great help,

Thanks in advance

Megan

[David8386]

Ok I am not getting the cooked part. I put the steel wool in the vinegar and forget about it for a week or two. I then check to see if it has gone through the steel wool. If it has strain it a couple of times to get the loose stuff out. Get a piece of scrap leather and try it. I usually immerse it for a minute or two then pull it out. For a big bag I would probably get a paint brush and slosh it on with that until I had it covered good. Give it a minute or two for it to react and then wash it in the soda bath. I use about a half cup of baking soda to a gallon of warm water.. You will not get your good black color until after the soda bath. If it does not go black enough do the whole thing again.

Once it has dried out remember to oil it with neatsfoot oil, light coats until you are happy with it. And then let it dry again then finish it with what you want. A lot of people use resolene, I personally prefer bag kote cut with water let dry and then apply a good conditioner like Aussie. Hopes this helps, I think you probably want to let the vinegar set longer than 3 days with the steel wool. The more steel wool it goes through the stronger your vinegroon will be but remember to try it on a piece of scrap first.

David

Edited April 8, 2013 by David8386

[Phatdaddy]

I could be wrong, but I have doubts that even with soaking the bag in tea, you will get the same(if any) results as using vinegaroon on veg tan.

Kevin

[camano ridge]

I have not heard of cooking the vinegaroon. I make mine simply by dissolving the steel wool in the vinegar. To see if your will do the job simply dip a scrap piece of leather in the roon, it should almost immediately start to change color. I leave mine in the roon for just a couple of minutes. It should be grayish black to black. Then dip in baking soda wash and rinse with cold water, then lightly oil and let dry. I understand the soaking in tea to add extra tannins to the leather and it will definately help deepen the black. Go to cascity.com and click on the leather shop forum under the FAQ section there is a thread on old time dyes vinegaroon is discussed in length with input from Chuck Burrows and Will Ghormely.

Edited April 8, 2013 by camano ridge

[pnushi]

Thank you for your replies. I'm glad you all are so patient with a newbie.

Maybe I shouldn't have used the word "cooked". I read on one of the forums somewhere that it sped up the process if

the vinegar was heated. So that's what I did. It didn't come to a boil the original steel wool has dissolved.

I will add more steel wool and let it sit. Geez this is worse that waiting for Christmas morning.

I had an old Felco scabbard for my secateurs lying around and thought, "Why not". It is made of plain old leather

but has lots of oil from my hands over the years. It came out beautifully and the Felco name stands out rather nicely now.

I have another question. . .how can you tell if leather is vegetable tanned? The Coach website doesn't say how they process

their leather

When I was cleaning it originally (acetone and steel wool), not a lot of colour came off. Almost none really.

I worked it pretty well too. Going over the seams and edges very carefully.

It soaked up the Fiebings like a drunk likes gin.

Thanks again

Megan

[thekid77]

Hi,

Abosolute newbie at this, I know there is already a thread about a Coach bag but I have more questions. . .

I have an old coach bag, originally bone coloured, that I dyed with Fiebings. after a good scrub with Acetone.

Terrible rub off even though I buffed it for about 4 hours, especially the back, where it touches my side,

Then - whoo who - I found this site and am begging for your help.

I have scrubbed it down with extra fine steel wool and acetone to remove most of the dye and now want to try Vinegaroon.

I have washed the bag (in the washing machine) and soaked it in black tea for about 5 minutes. It is hanging to dry as I write.

What now?

My Vinegaroon is only about 3 days old but it is the colour shown in the pictures and tutorials. and it doesn't really smell vinegarry

I gallon of white vinegar and about 6 steel wool pads. Cooked, Cooled. Strained. Cooked again.

Some questions:

1. How long before I can use it?
   
2. Does the purse have to be wet before I put it on?
   
3. Do I immerse it or paint it on?
   
4. How long do I let it sit?
   
5. How long in the baking soda bath?
   
6. How much baking soda is too much?
   
7. Can I finish it with clear shoe polish?
   
8. If not, what is recommended to finish it.
   

I really like this bag and want to do a good job so any hints, warnings, how to's well, anything really, will be of great help,

Thanks in advance

Megan

Hey Megan, I am not too experienced using vinegaroon either, but I have read just about everything about it on google...

From what I've seen, Chuck Burrows is one of the most knowlegdeable people about vinegaroon. He recommends 10-15 seconds MAX in the bakind soda bath and no longer or else you risk burning the leather. Also, he recommends using 1/8 cup baking soda to a half gallon of water.

Hope this helps!!!

[billymac814]

I know I'm a little late in seeing this but I have not seen a coach purse yet that is made of veg tan leather. I have my doubts that this will work. I would use Fiebings Pro oil dye, you won't get the run off like you will with the regular dye. Good luck.

[pnushi]

Hey BillieMac,

Sorry I took so long to respond. Who needs to carry a black bag in the Summer? Now that fall is approaching, the dye problem has re-surfaced. I tried the Pro Oil and still had rub-off. I even sealed it but the sealer gave kind of a milky finish. Coach bags are made of "glove tanned leather" whatever that is. Animal, vegitable or mineral? have just taken the bag out of the washing machine and am going to dunk it in strong tea then the 'roon, then the soda. I will post pictures if the whole bag doesn't dissolve.

[camano ridge]

Since it has already been dyed you may not get the results you want from vinegaroon. Oil and finishes may block the vinegaroon. Vinegaroon is not a dye it does a chemical change to the leather. For a ton of information on vinegaroon and other old time dyes check out cascity.co leather shop forum find the how to and locate the old time dye thread.